Sunset Ranch: A Story of a Boy's Adventures in the West — page 70: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

62 At the Sioux Camp. Arrangements were speedily made for the great event, and Karl’s popularity among the cow punch- ers brought scores of the boys around on the day the race was to come off. Bets were freely made. An Indian takes little interest in a horse race un- less he has staked something on it. Karl was therefore compelled to put up his pony against the one his competitor meant to ride. _ He knew he had a big task ahead, for Little Buck- shot meant to leave no stone unturned in order to accomplish his defeat, for it was expected that the Kellys and Polly would view the race in company with the head men of the tribe and some visiting Eastern sportsmen in search of buffalo, then rapidly disappearing from the great Western plains. Karl knew the good points of Buckskin, and had no fears as to the result, secretly believing there was not a horse in the country that could outrun his reliable mount when he was in the saddle and the conditions favorable. The day came. It was a time of great excitement among the dusky sons of the prairie. The cowboys enjoyed the fun, too, and circulated among the tepees making bantering wagers and jol- lying their copper-colored friends in a way peculiar | to their class. Fortunately there was no trader on hand with his kegs of fire-water, so that the chances of clash be- — tween the two races was slender; such things have occurred at times, with grievous results on both sides. The scene was very exhilarating at the time Karl and his chum rode up. All preliminaries for the race had been arranged and the course had been laid out. It was patterned somewhat after the regular cus- connicloookks.conn